Running Late
by Sketcher1994
Summary: Zoro groaned as he climbed into his car. Another 9am start after a late finish having been shoved on the backshift. It wasn't fair that they kept messing him around – he needed to get some proper sleep. He'd had four hours sleep at best and he could barely stop himself from yawning as he shoved the key into the ignition. It just wasn't fair. T for minor language.


**AN: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda! Also, I do not own Google Maps either!**

**Just a little surprise update for you! Hope you enjoy it!**

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Zoro groaned as he climbed into his car. Another 9am start after a late finish having been shoved on the backshift. It wasn't fair that they kept messing him around – he needed to get some proper sleep. He'd only finished at one, and it was now eight. He released a grunt of irritation, cursing his boss. He'd had four hours sleep at best and he could barely stop himself from yawning as he shoved the key into the ignition. It just wasn't fair.

He reversed out of his drive, cursing himself for driving in nose first as he struggled to see passed the hedge for any oncoming cars. He didn't need this, not this early. He should have just parked on the street when he'd gotten back at two. He stopped the car and banged his head off of the steering wheel, the back end of his car out on the road, as he tried to wake himself up enough to finish pulling out without hitting anyone – he couldn't afford to pay for the damage, if he could, he would have refused to have his shifts moved around like this.

He raised his head and looked over his shoulder, slowly starting to roll his car back out of his drive, just as a yelling blonde guy drove past, narrowly avoiding the back of his car. He sighed, glad the guy hadn't hit him. Maybe if he got a day off, he'd just cut down the damn hedge. He didn't need a hedge. All it did was add more work for him, which reminded him, he needed to cut the grass before his dad visited, and the damn hedge.

He sighed again, returning to letting his car roll backwards out of the drive. He needed to leave now or he'd be late. It wasn't as if it would be his fault if he was, in his opinion, they didn't exactly treat him like a human. He was half expecting a text from his boss asking him to work a double shift – like hell he was going to agree if he did. Who was he kidding? Yesterday he'd gotten a text while he'd been driving to work, which he obviously only got as he turned up – in fact he was reading it as he walked in the door – that said he was to work the backshift, and then his shifts would be back to normal today. He wasn't happy, and now he was tired too.

He spun his car around on the road and started to head in the direction of the petrol station on the other side of town, silently wishing he didn't need the money. He had forty-five minutes to get there and swipe his employee card. He could make it...in the school traffic. Normally it took him forty-five minutes to get across town in the morning traffic, never mind get in the door and through the back to swipe his card. This was not going to be fun.

He sat impatiently in the traffic that led to the centre of town, looking for a side street that he could disappear onto. Only the smart people used the side streets to get to work, so they should be pretty quiet. He clicked the 'on' button on his SatNav, quickly taking advantage of the current motionless traffic to fill in his work's address. He'd just take the next turn, and it'd tell him where to go from there, right? That was what it was supposed to do, according to his sister – it had been a Christmas present from her, her saying that she would appreciate it if he didn't keep calling her at all hours to direct him somewhere.

According to her, he couldn't even follow simple directions, but he was pretty sure she was just being a bitch and getting him more lost on purpose. He always made it back home eventually though, even if it had taken three hours to do a forty minute drive from Luffy's. He was sure it was always that one wrong turn that threw him. He'd keep following the same directions as always, even after a wrong turn, but of course he wouldn't realise he'd taken a wrong turn until he arrived at somewhere that wasn't his place...that was when he'd call his sister...even at three in the morning. Well, he needed _someone_ to check Google Maps to find him a route home, why not his sister?

He grinned as he managed to pull forward enough to turn down a side street on his left. Three earrings, left. No earrings, right. There were three tall letters in 'left', so he was sure it was left. Or was it 'right' because there were 'r's in 'earrings'? Ah, well, the SatNav would direct him from there...except for the fact that it apparently wanted him to head back towards the town centre. He'd just have to drive in the general direction until he got past the town centre, then he could listen to it again.

He cursed as he found himself in a dead end, wondering where he'd gone wrong this time. He started reversing back out, slowly lowering his foot closer to the floor, speeding the car up in his frustration. He was too tired for this. All he wanted to do was go home to have a proper sleep, but no, his shitty boss had made him come back into work after only a couple hours. If his boss tried this again, he was going to murder him. This was beyond unfair.

He slammed his foot down on the brake, suddenly aware of a woman running towards the back of his car. What was she shouting about? She actually looked a little relieved now that he'd stopped? He looked from her to the back of his car, suddenly noticing the top of a kid's hat. Shit. Shit. _Shit_! He'd almost run a kid over! He leapt out of the car, running to the back to check the kid was alright.

Zoro found the boy standing, completely frozen, half a meter from the back of his car. If the woman hadn't shouted, he'd have hit the boy. What the hell was wrong with him?! He crouched down to the boy's height, taking the boy's hands as he tried to get the boy to respond, completely forgetting the woman. The boy started shaking, tears starting to roll down his cheeks. Zoro released a hand and started to dig around in his pockets, sure he still had the bar of chocolate he'd grabbed on his way out of work at quarter past one that morning. He needed to get sugar into the boy.

"Here, eat this." He began, handing the boy the bar of dark chocolate – it wasn't exactly ideal, but at least it didn't have nuts, how was he going to know what allergies the kid had? "Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked as he started checking the boy over, watching the boy start to shakily bite into the chocolate.

"What did you think you were doing?" A woman's voiced called, more upset than angry.

"Sorry, I was running la-"

"-Not you, but thank you so much for stopping! Although you really should have been watching out for children! This neighbourhood is filled with small children, and my son is definitely not the only child who would just run out onto these roads – there's rarely any traffic out here, so they just assume it's safe! What were you doing, driving like that?!" The woman glared, icy blue eyes trying to pierce into his soul – good luck to her, he'd lost _that_ years ago.

"As I was saying, I was running late for work. I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up here...wherever 'here' is?" Zoro sighed, turning back to the boy. "You were lucky I heard your mum shout, kid. You feeling a little better now?"

"Hm-mh...sorry..." The boy muttered quietly, a guilty look in his adorable doe eyes – he must have got them from his father.

"It's ok, just promise me you're not going to run out behind anymore cars, ok?" He smiled, patting the top of the boy's unusual pink top hat.

"Hm-mh." The boy smiled back shyly, glancing up at his mum.

"Thank you, Sir. I'd better get him to school, or he'll be late too." The woman behind him explained.

"Well, I'm going to be late anyway, so how about I give you a lift? He still seems pretty shaken." He replied, turning to smile at the woman as he stood up, his face tensing instead.

So, he'd just offered a beautiful woman a lift. A _really_ beautiful woman. And of course, he'd almost run her kid over. Yeah, he should probably give up before he even opens his mouth. She has a kid, so she's probably married, not to mention the fact that he'd almost run her kid over. He was doing well, wasn't he? Hell, he didn't stand a chance in the first place, but now he was the jerk who'd almost run her kid over. He'd wonder if his day could get any worse, but he could have _actually_ run the kid over.

"Hm, think you could get us there without almost running over more children?" She asked, a teasing dark glint in her eyes – a woman of his own sense of humour.

"I think so, but you'll have to direct me." He grinned back, watching as she bent down to pick the boy up.

"My name is Robin, and this little boy is my son, Tony." She smiled, opening the back door of his dark green estate car and buckling the boy into the seat directly behind the passenger seat.

"Zoro." He replied, walking to the open driver's door and climbing back in.

Zoro sat quietly as she shut the back door and opened his passenger door. He watched her out the corner of his eye as she lowered herself gracefully into the seat, silently complementing her ass. He was being a jerk. He'd almost run her kid over and now he was staring at her ass. He sighed and knocked the car into neutral before turning the key in the ignition, bringing the stalled car back to life. He put the car back into reverse and lowered the handbrake, _slowly_ making his way out of the street.

Less than ten minutes later, he found himself parked outside a primary school. The last time he'd been near a primary school, he'd _been_ at primary school. Of course, that had only been...seven? Eight? Eight years ago? How old was Tony anyway? He couldn't be much older than five, surely? He'd have said the boy was about four, but would he even be in primary school if he was four? He continued to sit patiently as Robin got Tony out of the car.

"Zoro, if you'd like to wait until I get him inside, I could direct you to your work? You did say before that you were unsure of where you were." She smiled, making him blush slightly.

"Sure." He grunted out, turning to look away from her.

Four minutes later, Robin was sitting in his passenger seat once more. He sat quietly, following her hand gestures that she'd taken up after he'd almost turned right instead of left. He glanced over at her as they sat at a red light, his right indicator flashing. He was sure there was one less shirt button done up as he studied her, gulping as he stared at her chest, quickly looking away as she turned to smile at him. He felt his cheeks begin to heat again and started to get annoyed, glaring at the man sitting in the car next to him at the lights. Hang on, he was turning right...why was there a car on his ri...

"There are two lanes when you turn right – after the right, you need to turn left immediately." She explained, apparently realising what he'd been thinking – was she psychic? "I decided not to confuse you by giving you too many instructions at once." She laughed, turning to smile at him.

"Thanks..." He muttered, going back to looking straight ahead, ignoring the burning sensation in his ears as he decided she had a nice laugh.

He pulled forward as the lights changed, turning right just as Robin used another hand gesture, quickly flicking on his left indicator as she indicated left, the turn off only a few meters in front of them. He turned left, sparing a quick glance at the woman next to him as he did. She actually looked pretty relaxed for someone in a car directing a complete stranger that could be a murder for all she knew, not to mention he'd already almost run her kid over.

He followed her directions for another few minutes, finding himself outside the petrol station at quarter to nine. He'd made it. He had actually made it on time! ...How? He'd managed to leave late, get lost in a housing estate, almost run a kid over, drop said kid off at school, and still get to work _early_. This wasn't funny. He'd known that side streets were faster than sitting in traffic, but _that_ shouldn't have been possible.

"How...?" He muttered, looking between his work and his watch.

"The main street is always the slowest way, but how you got here early was because I brought you a shortcut that has no traffic at this time of day. I'd suggest taking it every day, but that might be a bit of a detour, and I have a hunch you won't be able to find my son's school again." She smiled, unclipping her seatbelt.

"Shit...sorry! How are you going to get back?!" He rushed, suddenly realising he'd just taken her halfway out of the city.

"It's ok – I actually work in an office near here. Thanks to your lift, I won't be late, so thank you, Zoro." She smiled again, opening the car door to get out.

"Wait, how did you know that I worked near you? Before I told you where I worked, for all you could have known, I could have worked on the opposite side of town?" He asked, completely confused.

"We actually met yesterday, but you were too busy cursing under your breath at your boss for messing around with your shifts. I was the woman holding the door as you walked in. When I saw you get out of the car to check to see if Tony was ok, I realised you must be completely lost." She laughed, causing embarrassment to fill him completely as he began to fumble around for words, his face painfully hot. "You were actually very good with him – do you have some experience with kids?"

"Eh, well, I guess? I, em, used to help out the younger kids at high school? And one of my friends works at a day-care? I sometimes help with the carpool since she doesn't have a car...?" He replied, fighting his embarrassment.

"That is very kind of you, Zoro." She smiled, the teasing laughter shining in her eyes very different from the cold glare she'd given him earlier. "You may wish to go in or you'll be late."

"Ye-Yeah." He stumbled, turning to walk into the shop.

"And, Zoro," she began as she turned to walk along the street, Zoro glancing back at her over his shoulder as he waited to find out what she was going to say, "you're very cute when you pout."

Zoro dashed into the shop, hoping no-one noticed the colour of his face as he took the long way to the back, avoiding the till, to swipe his card. He shut the door behind him, glancing at his watch as he swiped the card and waited for the beep. He was almost ten minutes early. He leant back against the door and closed his eyes, releasing a sigh. Her laugh echoed through his head as the image of her smile flitted through his mind, a smile slowly appearing on his lips. He might actually see her and her kid again sometime, she'd actually admitted to having met him before. Maybe now she'd come in to see _him_?

He smirked as he pushed himself back off the door, turning to open it. From the way she was smiling at him, he was _definitely_ going to see her again. He hadn't even seen a wedding ring when she'd been directing him, so the only thing that could get in the way, if she did like him, was her son. Even if he had almost run the boy over, the boy hadn't seemed too upset with him, and Zoro had to admit, he kinda already liked the little runt, at least from the few minutes that the boy had chatted away to him in the car.

Yup, he was definitely looking forward to bumping into those two again.

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**Hope you liked it! ^_^ Do you want me to continue it, or shall I leave it here? :) I am still technically on hiatus, so it would be a while before you got another update :P Hope you're all doing well!? ^_^**


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